A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts, by Ken Gerhard

Praise for A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts “Ken Gerhard’s writings are always replete with original research and hitherto-unpublished reports. A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts is no exception—a monstrously good, thoroughly entertaining, and highly informative read for cryptozoology fans everywhere!”

—Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker, author of A Manifestation of Monsters “Ken Gerhard deftly blends authentic historical accounts with piles of new eyewitness reports to create a heady, global cocktail of cryptid mysteries.”

—Linda S. Godfrey, author of American Monsters “After reading this menagerie of the damned you will be in no doubt that monsters are real.”

—Richard Freeman, author of Dragons: More Than a Myth?

“Ken brings us an excellent read, a combination of his own personal investigations and direct eyewitness testimony. Importantly, the book flows very well as it deals with a variety of cryptids, including more controversial subjects which he is to be credited for not shying away from.”

—Adam Davies, cryptozoologist and explorer

A Menagerie of

Mysterious

Beasts

About the Author Ken Gerhard (San Antonio, TX) is a widely recognized cryptozoologist. He has traveled around the world searching for evidence of mysterious animals, including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabra, flying creatures, and even werewolves. Ken has authored three books on the unexplained, and his research has been featured on the History Channel, Travel Channel, Syfy, National Geographic, A&E, truTV, Nat Geo Wild, Science Channel, and Destination America. He is a regular guest on Coast to Coast AM.

ENCOUNTERS WITH CRYPTID CREATURES

A Menagerie of

Mysterious

Beasts KEN GERHARD

Llewellyn Publications Woodbury, Minnesota

A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts: Encounters with Cryptid Creatures © 2016 by Ken Gerhard. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Edition First Printing, 2016 Cover background image: Shutterstock.com/13703339/©mythja Cover illustration: Dominick Finelle/July Group Cover design: Kevin R. Brown Editing: Lauryn Heineman List of interior art credits on page 215 Llewellyn Publications is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Gerhard, Ken, author.

Title: A menagerie of mysterious beasts : encounters with cryptid creatures / Ken Gerhard.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016020032 (print) | LCCN 2016032295 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738746661 | ISBN 9780738749273 Subjects: LCSH: Animals, Mythical. | Monsters.

Classification: LCC GR820 .G47 2016 (print) | LCC GR820 (ebook) | DDC 001.944—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016020032 Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions between our authors and the public.

All mail addressed to the author is forwarded, but the publisher cannot, unless specifically instructed by the author, give out an address or phone number.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific location will continue to be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to authors’ websites and other sources.

Llewellyn Publications A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive Woodbury, MN 55125.2989 www.llewellyn.com Printed in the United States of America

Other books by Ken Gerhard Encounters with Flying Humanoids: Mothman, Manbirds, Gargoyles & Other Winged Beasts Big Bird!: Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters Monsters of Texas (coauthored with Nick Redfern)

Contents Introduction . . . 1 Chapter 1 The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man? . . . 5 Chapter 2 Ape-Men in the Americas . . . 23 Chapter 3 Werewolves and Other Cryptid Carnivores . . . 47 Chapter 4 Sea Monsters . . . 69 Chapter 5 Enormous Eagles . . . 93 Chapter 6 Modern Dragons . . . 119 Chapter 7 Massive Amphibians . . . 149 Chapter 8 Creepy-Crawlies . . . 167 Chapter 9 Phantoms, Fairies, and Mermaids . . . 183 Conclusion . . . 203 Acknowledgments . . . 205 Bibliography . . . 207 Interior Art Credits . . . 215

Introduction

In past centuries, persons of nobility would maintain and exhibit awe-inspiring collections of rare and exotic animals, which had been gathered from faraway lands. The ostentatious displays were often regarded as shows of great wealth and influence, but they also served another important purpose. In a world that seemed dark and mysterious, these bestiaries would enthrall and fascinate curious observers, reminding them that remote corners of the planet still harbored fabulous beasts that they could scarcely imagine.

Charlemagne, the mighty emperor of Western Europe, was among the first to possess such a menagerie during the Middle Ages. In 802 CE the caliph of Baghdad presented the ruler with an Asian elephant named Abdul-Abbas. Elephants were a genuine novelty in Europe at that time, and the majestic giant remained in Charlemagne’s care for eight years until it expired, all the while astonishing all who saw it. Other intriguing specimens that Charlemagne kept on display included lions, monkeys, and bears.

1

2 Introduction

During the early part of the thirteenth century, King John of England began to exhibit remarkable animals on the grounds of the Tower of London. The Roman emperor Frederick II gifted John’s heir (Henry III) three leopards in the year 1235, and sixteen years later the king of Norway provided him with a polar bear to add to the impressive collection. The Tower’s menagerie ultimately spanned six centuries and included hundreds of strange and fascinating creatures. One notable beast was Old Martin, a grizzly bear donated by Canada’s Hudson Bay Company to the English Monarchy in 1811. Ultimately, there was a tragic incident in 1830, in which an old lion named George escaped his enclosure and engaged in a bloody battle with two captive tigers in an adjacent pen. The ensuing public fallout effectively heralded the end of the Tower’s royal menagerie.

Not to be outdone, France’s aristocracy had an impressive menagerie too. King Louis XIV began to assemble his collection at Versailles in 1664. A century later, one of its most celebrated inhabitants was an Indian rhinoceros that resided on the palace grounds for twenty-two years, until it was slaughtered by disenchanted rebels amidst the chaos of the French Revolution.

During the nineteenth century, as the general public became aware of startling advancements in science and exploration, traveling menageries consisting of all manner of extrinsic animals would tour Europe and North America, taking in handsome profits for their owners. Crowds of people would line up and pay a respectable fee for the opportunity to gawk at unusual specimens that they had never seen before. Surely, the result of such expositions was that they served to stimulate people’s imaginations in previously unimaginable ways.

Introduction 3

It is in keeping with this spirit that I present you, the reader, with this compendium of fabulous beasts—my very own virtual menagerie, if you will. The esoteric creatures described within these pages remain strictly relegated to the world of myth and legend for now, yet there exist compelling accounts by people who’ve claimed to have actually observed these beasts with their very own eyes. And because amazing new species are still being catalogued with alarming regularity, it is my firm hope that in due time some of these “monsters” will earn their rightful place in the annals of zoology. Or perhaps even in an exhibit where they can awe and inspire like the uncommon animals of ages past. It is my ardent hope that you will marvel at this astounding assemblage of mysterious beasts as other menagerie enthusiasts have throughout history.

Chapter 1

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

During the summer of the American Bicentennial, the aroma of corn dogs and funnel cakes permeated the air of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The festive sounds of carnival rides and circus music echoed as a young boy wandered throughout the crowd. Suddenly, his attention was drawn to a barker’s voice resonating through loudspeakers ahead. “Is it man, or is it beast? What is it—a caveman from our prehistoric past?

The legendary Bigfoot?” Within moments, the boy located the source of the announcement, an eighteen-wheeler that had been converted into a sideshow attraction. On its outer walls, colorful posters hinted that whatever was housed inside was not quite human.

The boy approached cautiously, overcome with curiosity but also hesitant—fearful that whatever was on display just might inspire future nightmares that he could scarcely fathom. Eventually, he gathered up his courage, took a deep breath, and handed the price of admission to an older man standing at the entrance.

5

6  The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

As the youth slowly made his way up the long, wooden ramp to the doorway of the trailer, he could feel his excitement mounting and his pulse quickening. Upon entering the chilly and tight enclosure, he discovered a crowd of people gathered around a glass-covered coffin in the center of the room and gawking at the figure within, which was evidently encapsulated in a block of ice. The boy squeezed in between two adults, stood up on his tiptoes, and peered down at the manlike shape frozen within the centerpiece. The thing, whatever it was, appeared to be covered in short, brown hair and displayed a startling death grimace on its monstrous face. Seemingly halfway between man and ape, the being’s true nature was a genuine mystery.

Truth be told, that young boy was none other than yours truly, so the so-called Minnesota Iceman possesses a special, personal significance for me. That incident was one of many seminal events in my early life that put me on the trail of enigmatic beasts. Now, whether you believe that the Iceman affair merely represents one of the greatest hoaxes in history or you are convinced that its very existence validates the survival of archaic, hair-covered subhumans to modern times, its existence spawned undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and significant sagas in the annals of cryptozoology.

Our tale begins with the late Frank D. Hansen of Rollingstone, Minnesota. As early as 1967, Hansen was traveling around the United States to various fairs, livestock shows, and carnivals, exhibiting what appeared to be a deceased, furry, humanlike being entombed in a block of ice, which in turn was housed in a refrigerated glass sarcophagus. His advertisements did not state precisely what the anomaly was, suggesting that it might be some type of primitive man while also implying that it could just as

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man? 7

easily be a fabricated model, similar to the “mermaids” that had been cobbled together by Japanese taxidermists for centuries by combining the body parts of assorted animals like monkeys and fish.

Beginning on November 28, 1968, the exhibit was visited multiple times by Terry Cullen of Milwaukee, a zoology student and budding herpetologist and veterinarian. Cullen felt that whatever was being displayed was a real flesh-and-blood creature, not a fake. He realized the importance of bringing it to the attention of scientists and tried in vain to get various academics to take notice, though he did finally convince one anthropology professor at the University of Minnesota to go and take a look. After exiting the trailer, the professor walked away utterly speechless, according to Cullen, and seemingly didn’t want to venture a guess as to what the Iceman might actually be.

Coincidentally, the late Dr. Grover Krantz, an eminent physical anthropologist heralded as one of the pioneers of Bigfoot research, was also attending that very institution. Krantz later wrote, “One aspect that grates on me is that if I had walked just a little bit farther at the Minnesota State Fair in the summer of 1968, I would have been the first scientist to see the damned thing.” According to an episode of the 1990s television series Unsolved Mysteries, two experts who did manage to “see the damned thing” around that time period were a zookeeper named Bob Surpleski and an environmental researcher named David Rivard. Both men came away convinced of the Iceman’s authenticity, though they apparently took no action.

Eventually, Terry Cullen got in touch with Ivan T. Sanderson, a famous author, biologist, animal collector, and ethnographer who was running the Society for the Investigation of the

8  The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

Unexplained out of his home in New Jersey at the time. Cullen phoned Sanderson on December 12, 1968, and expressed his opinion that the Iceman was some type of unknown hominid.

Ivan was skeptical at first but felt that Terry seemed both knowledgeable and sincere; thus, he decided to drive out and take a look for himself. It just so happened that, at the time, Sanderson had a houseguest—none other than the father of cryptozoology, Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, who had dedicated his life to the pursuit of unknown animals. Sanderson tracked down Frank D. Hansen and convinced him that both he and Heuvelmans should be allowed to examine the specimen in person.

The scientists arrived at the Hansen homestead on December 16 and were permitted to undertake a superficial examination of the Iceman for three consecutive days, though they were only allowed to view their subject through several inches of glass and ice, which was largely opaque. During that time they took a number of photographs and measurements to the best of their ability and also questioned Hansen about the Iceman’s origins. Hansen told them that the exhibit actually belonged to a mysterious, California show-business millionaire who had discovered the curiosity in a refrigerated warehouse in Hong Kong, purchased it for an undisclosed amount, and shipped it back to the United States.

Hansen initially told Sanderson and Heuvelmans that the Iceman had apparently been frozen in a 6,000-pound block of ice, which had been found floating in the North Pacific Ocean

by Russian sealers, and that ultimately the thing had wound up in Hong Kong. Incidentally, his version of events changed multiple times as time went on. Months later, Hansen stated that

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?   9

the thing had actually been discovered by Japanese whalers and then by Chinese fishermen. Finally, in a 1970 article for Saga Magazine, he said that he shot the creature himself while hunting in the Northwoods of Minnesota. A year earlier in June of 1969, a tabloid had published a story about a female camper who claimed she shot the Iceman in self-defense after it had molested her.

Regardless of how the Iceman reached Hansen, it is important to consider the physical characteristics of the specimen that Sanderson and Heuvelmans examined, based on their detailed notes. They both estimated that the being would have stood about six feet tall and would have been noticeably muscular and stocky, weighing around 250 pounds. Its entire body, except for its face, palms, and the bottom of its feet, seemed to be clothed in hair that was two to four inches long and had an agouti pattern, meaning that the individual hairs displayed stages of varying coloration in a pigmentation pattern that fades from darker tips to lighter roots. As far as primates go, this particular trait is only known to exist in certain kinds of monkeys.

For a number of reasons, both scientists ruled out the possibility of the Iceman being an excessively hairy human (Homo sapiens), such as a person of Japanese Ainu descent, or even one born with hypertrichosis (an exceptionally rare genetic condition of abnormal hair growth). The being did not appear to have a neck, and its shoulders and torso were broad and barrel-shaped. Its arms were longer than a human’s, reaching almost to its knees, and its legs seemed longer than those of any nonhuman ape, indicating that it probably walked upright. It also displayed male genitalia. The most disturbing aspect was

10 The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

the fact that it appeared to possess two bullet wounds—one that had ripped through its left wrist, breaking its arm, and a head wound that had blown out both of its eyes. There also appeared to be a puddle of blood underneath its head. The Iceman evidently met a tragic end.

While the true shape of its cranium couldn’t be determined, there wasn’t an exaggerated brow ridge visible, and the forehead sloped only slightly backward. The flesh on its face was a yellowish color, and the Iceman didn’t display any sign of prognathism (a protruding upper and/or lower jaw) like an ape. Its nose was the most noticeable feature, prominent and pug shaped, with two large nostrils that faced forward. The eye sockets were unexpectedly round and rather large with both eyeballs missing. There appeared to be blood running out of one eye socket and possibly the remnant of an eyeball on its other cheek. The mouth was difficult to see, but the lips seemed to be rather narrow. The upper lip was peeled back to expose four large molars like those of an orangutan as well as a canine tooth that was not at all prominent like in other primates. There was a series of folds or wrinkles around the being’s mouth that resembled the jowls of an elderly man and also a bit of hair resembling a mustache below its nose. Its ears couldn’t be clearly seen.

The Iceman’s hands were by far the most remarkable and outstanding morphological structures visible. They were enormous and bulky in comparison to its body and arms, though their linear measurements were within reason: about eleven inches long and seven inches across. Its thumbs were fully opposable (like a human’s) but were remarkably slender and long.

They also tapered towards the end rather than expanding. The

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man? 11

knuckles were not well defined. It didn’t have claws but rather copper-colored nails that seemed oddly manicured. One puzzling feature was enormous plantar pads on the outside of the hands that may indicate that the creature went down on all fours occasionally.

As with all species, the design of the Iceman’s feet would be paramount in determining its true place within the taxonomic system of zoological classification. The hallux, or big toe, was adducted as in hominids and not at all opposed like in anthropoids, indicating a proximate relationship to humans rather than apes. Its feet were eight inches wide and squat, with the toes being essentially equal in size, creating a flat front. The toenails were yellowish and cropped. Sanderson wrote that the feet reminded him of fossilized Neanderthal tracks from a cave in Toirano, Italy, and that they also bore characteristics that reminded him of Bigfoot tracks that he had examined while in northern California. He noted that such feet would have been ideal for traveling over the snow.

Perhaps the most troubling part about the Iceman’s physiology was that it didn’t really resemble anything from our known fossil history. Nonetheless, Heuvelmans felt strongly that it probably represented a living Neanderthal man. Sanderson disagreed with his colleague’s assumption, believing the Iceman to be a complete unknown. Primatologist Dr. John Napier of the Smithsonian Institute later stated that the Iceman, if genuine, was distinct enough to represent an entirely new clade in the superfamily of hominids. He also pointed out that the Iceman displayed the worst traits of both men and apes, making it an unlikely evolutionary design.

12  The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

Meg Buick’s interpretation of the Minnesota Iceman as it may have appeared in life.

Despite its odd features and Hansen’s duplicity, Sanderson and Heuvelmans were both convinced that the Iceman itself was not a fabrication but rather an authentic flesh and blood specimen that had been alive within the prior five years. This was despite the fact that studying the thing had been problematic, since over half of the ice that it was encased in was cloudy, restricting a clear view of its entire anatomy. Obviously, they were not able to touch any part of the subject, nor extract any hairs or tissue samples from it. Hansen had told them that such samples had been sent to top experts initially, but he never delivered on his promise to provide Sanderson and Heuvelmans with any resulting data or precise names or details. One of the things that convinced the scientists that the Iceman was real was the fact that they both claimed to have

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man? 13

smelled its decaying flesh coming up through cracks in the ice after accidentally shattering the glass lid of the coffin when they placed a hot lamp on top of it. Both men also felt that the creature’s state of decomposition was causing discoloration of its skin as well as the formation of gaseous bubbles in the ice around it.

Assuming for a moment that the original Minnesota Iceman was genuine, where did it really come from? Heuvelmans would later theorize that it might have had its origins in the nation of Vietnam. From Indochina’s dense montane jungles, there have been historical accounts of primitive, hairy men referred to as the Nguoi Rung, which in Vietnamese means “forest people.” Heuvelmans speculated that Frank Hansen, who served as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, could have conceivably smuggled its corpse into the United States by concealing it within a body bag. There are stories about American soldiers stationed in Vietnam who occasionally encountered and shot aggressive, manlike animals that they called Rock Apes.

My friend and colleague John Kirk, who lived in Hong Kong for many years, informed me that it would have been downright impossible to smuggle something like the Iceman into that city during the 1960s. However, I can’t help but wonder if there is some truth to Hansen’s initial statement about it ending up in a Hong Kong warehouse. After all, there are some truly striking similarities between the Iceman’s appearance and descriptions of the Chinese wild man referred to as the Yeren. Moreover, there have been multiple reports of Yeren being either captured or killed in the decades leading up to 1968. Most of the alleged incidents stem from the central part of China, which consists of vast, forested mountain ranges.

14 The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

In one instance, three different witnesses corroborated a capture, which apparently took place in the year 1922. The local militia paraded a sturdy, six-foot, captive wild man through their village one day. All three men later recalled that the thing had been covered in dark, red hair and that it possessed extremely large hands and feet. Additionally, a traveller named Wang Zelin observed what appeared to be a hair-covered “wild woman” that had been shot by hunters in Gansu Province during the 1940s. One could hardly hope for a better eyewitness, since Zelin was evidently a trained biologist. In a Chinese magazine article published in 1979, he later reminisced, “It was tall, about two meters … The cheekbones were high, making the eyes deep set … The shoulders were rather broad … The hands were very big with long fingers … The feet were over a foot long and six to seven inches wide.”

A similar incident occurred in the jungles of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province during 1961 when a wild man was said to have been shot by railroad workers. Some Chinese scientists dismissed the account, stating that the subject in question was most likely a large gibbon. But an anthropologist and Yeren investigator named Zhou Guoxing uncovered some testimony that the specimen had in fact looked more like a man than an ape. Since no one is sure what happened to its remains, it’s not impossible that they could have ended up on ice and transported to Hong Kong, where they remained in deep freeze for a few years.

A close encounter that includes a detailed description and which paints a favorable comparison to the Iceman occurred in June of 1977. A villager named Pang Gengsheng claimed that

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man? 15

he came face to face with a Yeren on the eastern face of Mount Taibai in Shaanxi Province. While the man was intently cutting firewood, the creature surprised him, backing him up against a stone cliff wall with nowhere to retreat to. Gengsheng later told investigators, [The being was] about 2.1 meters tall, with shoulders wider than a man’s, a sloping forehead, deep-set eyes, and a bulbous nose with slightly flared nostrils. He had sunken cheeks … and round eyes also bigger than a man’s. … His front teeth were as wide as a horse’s. …

His whole face, except for his nose and ears, was covered with short hair. His arms hung down below his knees. He had big hands and fingers about six inches long. … He walked upright with his legs apart. His feet were each about a foot long and half that width … with splayed toes. He was male. That much I saw clearly.

After an hour-long stand off, Gengsheng picked up a rock and hurled it at the intruder, which grunted in disgust and wandered off.

Later that same year, a young man in the Shennongjia region logged another report. During the month of August, Xiao Xingyang allegedly had seen a hairy man-beast spying on him from the forest. “I then saw its face very clearly. It looked like a very thin old man, with protruding teeth, sunken eyes, and upturned nose. I was very frightened and ran away instantly.”

Due to the similarities in descriptions, it would appear that China’s Yeren is the same species as Vietnam’s jungle-dwelling

16 The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

Nguoi Rung and also Mongolia’s Almas—a mysterious hominid said to dwell in the Altai Mountains. Despite the suggestion by British anthropologist Myra Shackley that these hairy primitives are of Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal) stock, perhaps it would be more reasonable to link them to Homo erectus instead. Ice Age fossils of Homo erectus have been discovered all over Asia, and it’s not completely beyond the realm of possibility that a tiny population of descendants still survives, inhabiting remote wilderness areas. As Shackley herself points out, in terms of longevity H. erectus was the most successful human ancestor, with a reign of almost two million years. H. erectus fossil finds have also been widespread, indicating that the species was highly adaptable. Of course, one could certainly make the argument that the Minnesota Iceman doesn’t match perfectly with reconstructions of H. erectus, but there are many gaps remaining in our knowledge of our fossil history. Who’s to say that the Iceman might not be an evolutionary side branch on the seemingly bushy tree of human evolution? Only a thorough examination of the actual body would answer these questions.

At the conclusion of Heuvelmans and Sanderson’s threeday evaluation, Hansen asked both scientists not to publicize any of their findings. (We know this not only from Sanderson’s writings, but also because Hansen later confirmed it). Despite that request, Heuvelmans published a scientific paper on the Minnesota Iceman in February of 1969, and by May Sanderson had penned an article for Argosy, the magazine of which he was science editor at the time. Apparently, Sanderson had also mentioned the Iceman in passing while appearing as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. As a result, their claims

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man? 17

caused quite a sensation and even garnered the attention of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, and possibly even the FBI. Clearly feeling pressure, Hansen vanished for a few months and then resurfaced, claiming that he had commissioned a sculptor to construct an exact latex replica of the Iceman with which he would now be touring instead, while the original specimen was placed in storage. This bizarre turn of events, along with the fact that Frank Hansen continually changed his story through the years, makes a compelling argument that the entire affair was a monumental hoax. Was Hansen merely a scam artist, a brilliant showman who deserves to be ranked among the likes of P. T. Barnum?

It would seem that the revelation of a “composite” Iceman was enough for the Smithsonian to declare the whole affair an obvious hoax, particularly after they had spoken with a Hollywood special effects designer named Howard Ball who took full credit for the creature’s design.

But Sanderson and Heuvelmans later noted at least fifteen differences between the replica Iceman and the original specimen that they had studied at Hansen’s residence. I confirmed this fact in a phone interview with a man named Richard Grigonis, who had worked with Sanderson during the late 1960s.

Sanderson had requested that Illinois resident Grigonis take some photos of the 1969 version of the Iceman at that year’s International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, for comparison purposes.

The saga of the Minnesota Iceman contains some intriguing subplots. For example, during July of 1969, Frank Hansen was

18 The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

detained at the US border for several days after displaying the Iceman in Canada. Customs officials were concerned because his exhibit so closely resembled a human cadaver. Hansen insisted that the thing was merely a latex model, but when officials requested a sample of its “skin” as proof, he flatly refused, stating that it would cause irreparable damage to the exhibit. Hansen was so distressed that he even called Sanderson for advice. Sanderson suggested that Hansen allow officials to x-ray the Iceman replica so that they could see that it lacked a skeletal structure.

Hansen rejected this suggestion, saying that “the owner” would never allow it. Ultimately, Hansen called in a favor and was allowed to reenter the country with his exhibit. (Intriguingly, that favor was granted by none other than the state senator and future vice president of the United States, Walter Mondale.)

There’s also the matter of the mysterious show-business millionaire who Hansen credited with actual ownership of the Iceman. If he was not merely an invention of Hansen’s, it is possible that he was Hollywood screen legend Jimmy Stewart. Stewart was known to have a keen interest in subjects like the Abominable Snowman or Yeti, due to his friendship with millionaire adventurer Tom Slick of San Antonio, Texas. Slick had actively pursued evidence for mysterious animals around the world, and Stewart certainly would have had the influence needed to get the Iceman past Customs and into the United States. Moreover, it is said that the Iceman’s owner was a very religious man, which Stewart is believed to have been, and didn’t want to be the one who toppled the biblical theory of creation. It is possible that the iconic actor was genuinely interested in how people would react to the Iceman, but he ap-

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man? 19

parently also stated that he would dump its body back into the Pacific Ocean if it were ever to become a divisive issue.

In 1974, Bernard Heuvelmans coauthored a book with famed Russian hominologist Boris Porshnev titled L’homme de Néanderthal est toujours vivant, in which they laid out a case for the Iceman representing a surviving Neanderthal, labeling it Homo pongoides, or “apelike man.” Heuvelmans never wavered from his belief that the subject that he and Sanderson had examined for three solid days had been genuine. Sanderson passed away in 1973 and also stuck to his guns until the very end, believing that the original Iceman had been some type of Abominable Snowman. During a telephone interview with Bigfoot researcher Al Berry in 2002, Hansen was asked what he thought the Iceman represented. Hansen responded that whatever it was, he definitely did not associate it with Bigfoot. However, in 2005, Hansen’s widow Irene told investigator Curt Nelson that she and Frank had once traveled to California to visit with Roger Patterson and his wife. Patterson is famous for a controversial film that he shot of an alleged Bigfoot creature in northern California during 1967, but why the visit? Either two of the great hoaxers in history wanted to drink a toast together, or Hansen was looking for answers.

Frank Hansen died in 2003, taking the secrets of the Minnesota Iceman with him to his grave. His exhibit incidentally continued to tour the United States for over a decade, visited by tens of thousands of people, including me.

It is believed that the Hansen family had sold the Iceman off after Frank’s passing, perhaps tired of all the turmoil it had created in their lives. The oddity had evidently been in the

20 The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

possession of a Minnesota company that specializes in supplying spooky props to theme parks and haunted attractions.

However, over the past couple of years it has resurfaced in quite a dramatic fashion due to the actions of a Texan by the name of Steve Busti. Steve is owner and curator of Austin’s Museum of the Weird, a colorful exhibition that proudly displays a variety of curios, including shrunken heads and a cyclopean piglet. Like myself, Busti first saw the Iceman as a young boy, and it sparked a lifelong passion for both carnival-style freak shows and cryptozoological mysteries.

During the early part of 2013, the Iceman replica appeared on the auction website eBay with a hefty asking price of $20,000.

Busti contacted the seller and purchased the exhibit (including the original, glass-covered display coffin and Hansen’s promotional posters) for an undisclosed amount. He then arranged for its transportation to his museum in Texas, and the strange journey was featured on a television show called Shipping Wars. As part of that particular episode, Lyle Blackburn, Chris Buntenbah, and I, all Bigfoot researchers, met up with Busti and a film crew near Fouke, Arkansas, which is famous for sightings of another hairy, manlike monster that was the inspiration for the 1970s cult classic film, The Legend of Boggy Creek. Blackburn, Buntenbah, and I were possibly the first researchers to get a glimpse of the Iceman in this century, and we also led Busti and his truck-driving costar into the swamp in order to demonstrate how Bigfoot fieldwork is typically conducted. After the program aired that summer, Busti arranged for a grand premiere of his new, prized museum exhibit and

The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?   21

invited me to give a lecture recounting the history of the Iceman. As part of the event, small groups of enthusiastic visitors were escorted into a refrigerated room where the coffin containing the Iceman was being housed. The saga had come full circle: I once again found myself peering down into the face of an enigma. Though I recognized the subject as the same one I had viewed some thirty-seven years earlier, a lifetime of experience allowed me to now carefully examine the thing with a scientific eye.

I was able to come to a rather abrupt determination. In my humble opinion, the object that I was looking at did not appear to be organic in any way. It was obviously a latex model of some sort—there was no conceivable way that two trained scientists could have come to the conclusion that this thing had ever been alive, especially after three days of careful examination, ice or no ice. I confirmed that this was indeed a replica.

Frank Hansen had taken one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century and had parted ways with it or hidden it where it may never be found.

All these years later many questions remain. Although, for me personally, it really all comes down to this: Could two eminent zoologists like Heuvelmans and Sanderson have made such an obvious misjudgment? If so, it rocks the very foundation of the field of cryptozoology, since these men were the discipline’s iconic founding fathers, and such a glaring blunder would provide ammunition to skeptics who view researchers like myself as romantic crackpots. And if the original Iceman was authentic, what ultimately became of its remains? Were they really placed in storage, and where? Were they dumped

22 The Minnesota Iceman: A Chinese Ape-Man?

in the ocean? Was Hansen understandably fearful of serious legal ramifications, given that he had a humanlike corpse with bullet holes in his possession? At this very moment, the remains of the original Minnesota Iceman may be resting in an unmarked grave somewhere out there … waiting to captivate us once again.

Steve Busti with his Minnesota Iceman exhibit.

Body, Mind & Spirit / Supernatural “In his new book, Ken Gerhard—the Indiana Jones of monster-hunting—provides us with an absolute smorgasbord of unknown animals.”—Nick Redfern, author of Chupacabra Road Trip

Draw Back the Curtain and Marvel at the Amazing Collection of Mysterious Beasts Within Join cryptozoologist Ken Gerhard on an enigmatic journey through the world of mysterious beasts, exploring eyewitness encounters with creatures thought to exist only in myths and legends. This compelling compendium presents a wide variety of astounding and bizarre creatures, from the Minnesota Iceman to the White Bluff Screamer to the Texas T. rex.

Discover the fascinating history and modern case studies of ape-men roaming the Americas. Experience captivating, firsthand accounts of dragon, werewolf, and mermaid sightings from Europe to Australia. Featuring sea monsters, colossal insects, enormous eagles, oversized amphibians, and more, A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts is the ultimate resource for cryptid creature enthusiasts.

Ken Gerhard is a world-famous cryptozoologist. He has investigated reports of mysterious beasts around the world and appeared on TV programs including Missing in Alaska, Monster Quest and Ancient Aliens. He’s also the author of Encounters with Flying Humanoids and Big Bird!: Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters and coauthor of Monsters of Texas. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, and lectures across the US. Visit him online at www.KenGerhard.com. $15.99 US / $18.50 CAN

www.llewellyn.com • Facebook.com/LlewellynBooks • Twitter:@LlewellynBooks